eBay

collectintime · ‎10-23-2020

I have been on eBay for 20 years, and I am not going to make the threat that I am not going to sell here. It is out of control though, and I don't know if CEOs have changed. Don't know the chain of command and don't care. I have always jumped the hoops and followed all of their policies, but now it is a buyer's free for all. When I get a return, now 10 times per year, originally once every 3-5 years. When I have fallen into the trap of a criminal buyer, I do try to state my case. Five years ago eBay agents DID read the information and sided with me on more than one occasion. I have found out now, there is no reading by anyone at eBay. It is automatic. The seller wins, you lose. This year I have lost over $1,000 because of this new policy.

Even worse, what I did not realize, was that I went from Top Rated Plus to Below Standard. I thought, so what? I will not get the 10 percent discount, that used to be 20 percent.

Oh, there is so much more eBay chooses to punish you with. Here it is in case you don't know. The $100 coverage for insurance for USPS changes to $50, no more global shipping allowed, you come up in the search, dead last. If there are 40 items on like yours, you are not getting seen. And worst of all the new 30 cent per item plus 13 percent taken away from sellers including the shipping you pay (never understood that!) includes another 6 percent, with a note that says, you are below standard. So basically you are paying almost 20 percent for every sale. To add insult to injury, I changed back to Top Rated on October 20. They are continuing to charge the below average fee until November 1. I am just supposed to understand that that is their "billing cycle."

I don't spend much time on these boards, but really wanted to let sellers know that you must take all returns with a smile, thank them, and of course, you can report the buyer, PLEASE, that is just to make you feel better. Nothing ever happens to these scammers. Is it costing eBay anything? No, so let them do to the sellers as they please, there will always be other suckers willing to sell on eBay, just like me. Just smile and say thank you eBay for running the prices of collectibles into the ground for the last ten years. Thank you, eBay Master, I will continue to follow!

gurlcat · ‎12-13-2021

Yes, I forgot to mention the skyrocketing price of real estate, yet another reason why home ownership is out of reach for so many younger people.

chapeau-noir · ‎12-13-2021

The trades are an excellent option for careers - always needed.

And the money you would make on eBay years ago isn't as much as you think - a lot of people have bad old eyesight when they look back at the good old days.

_______________________
“I have a year, and who knows what might happen in that time. The king might die. The horse might die. I might die. And perhaps the horse will learn to sing.”

Hell is empty...the devils are all here.

gurlcat · ‎12-14-2021

All I know is how much money I make now, enough to pay all my bills and will be even more if I uphold my New Year Resolution, to stop being a 'source-a-holic' and spend less time doing stuff like commenting on other people's problem threads, more time actually listing the insanely large and valuable hoard I've sourced over the past couple years, lol.
I don't know how good the good old days were because I didn't really start selling until a few years ago, but it's very good for me now, the first and only "job" I've ever had where my rewards are directly correlated with how much work I put in and how well I understand its' machinations, with the hours in a day being the only limitation.
So many years I wasted, toiling to the point of mental and physical exhaustion, working so much I could hardly take notice of my daughter growing up let alone be there for her whenever she needed me, and knowing the ins and outs of the businesses I worked for much better than the people whose profits I was toiling to generate, and yet if they had some stupid idea about how something should be done, I could only comply no matter how stupid I knew it was. Sometimes Ebay makes changes that resemble that dynamic, and I get annoyed along with everyone else. But so far none of the tweaks, even the stupidest ones, have been profound enough or long-lasting enough to actually sink me, or even demoralize me too much. I've simply found workarounds and kept chugging, what's more, even kept having fun. I never had a job feel fun for more than a few months.

sin-n-dex · ‎12-14-2021

@gurlcat wrote:
Yes, I forgot to mention the skyrocketing price of real estate, yet another reason why home ownership is out of reach for so many younger people.

Condos are around 400-450K, houses generally 600K would be considered cheap. A 400K mortgage on a new home owner who puts down only 5% will cost them 2K a month. Most of the people I know who got their first house in the past 10 years had two incomes to qualify for the mortgage.

I'm lucky because it's just me. If I hadn't put down almost half the cost of my house (and bought a house no one wanted, this time because the elderly gentleman that lived there died in the house), I wouldn't qualify for a mortgage.

In my area (Greater Toronto Area and outlaying areas), houses are scarce, so there are bidding wars to get one. I have no plans to ever move.

C.

sin-n-dex · ‎12-14-2021

@gurlcat wrote:
All I know is how much money I make now, enough to pay all my bills and will be even more if I uphold my New Year Resolution, to stop being a 'source-a-holic' and spend less time doing stuff like commenting on other people's problem threads, more time actually listing the insanely large and valuable hoard I've sourced over the past couple years, lol.
I don't know how good the good old days were because I didn't really start selling until a few years ago, but it's very good for me now, the first and only "job" I've ever had where my rewards are directly correlated with how much work I put in and how well I understand its' machinations, with the hours in a day being the only limitation.
So many years I wasted, toiling to the point of mental and physical exhaustion, working so much I could hardly take notice of my daughter growing up let alone be there for her whenever she needed me, and knowing the ins and outs of the businesses I worked for much better than the people whose profits I was toiling to generate, and yet if they had some stupid idea about how something should be done, I could only comply no matter how stupid I knew it was. Sometimes Ebay makes changes that resemble that dynamic, and I get annoyed along with everyone else. But so far none of the tweaks, even the stupidest ones, have been profound enough or long-lasting enough to actually sink me, or even demoralize me too much. I've simply found workarounds and kept chugging, what's more, even kept having fun. I never had a job feel fun for more than a few months.

I need to go with you on that about not being a source-a-holic. Every time I make money, I buy another postcard album or stamp album for more stuff to list. I am listing things quickly and stuff's not sitting, but I don't need any more stuff. The B&M store can supply me with regular inventory for eBay that can be listed, it's not necessary for me to go buy some.

I think I just like to buy stuff. I find getting packages to be very exciting.

C.

gurlcat · ‎12-14-2021

One thing that has contributed to the disproportionate inflation of home purchases is individuals and companies in wealthy Middle Eastern countries buying up U.S. (and probably Canadian) properties sight-unseen, for the purpose of renting them out, thus creating a distorted sense of demand. I mean I guess demand is demand, but something just seems so wrong about people not being able to afford the "American dream" because people outside America already own it. The owner of my little Alabama house is Middle Eastern but lives here, with his properties being managed by a local company. I actually met him once when I delivered pizza to him; it was a few years ago so I guess I was about 45 and he couldn't be a day over 25, ha.